Naval architecture.



No. 775,889. PATENTED Nov. 22, 1904. G. F. R. BLOGHMANN. NAVALARCHITECTURE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1903.v N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTBD NOV. 22, 1.904.

G. P. R. BLOCHMANN.

' NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1903.

2 BEEETS-SHEET 2.

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A frog/E w ViliviTnn STATas Patented November 22, 1904.

PATENT Arisica.

NAVAL ARCHETECTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters :Patent No. 775,889, datedNovember 22, 1904, Application filed September 14, 1903. Serial No.173,104. (No model.)

To all whom, t may colt/inrit:

Be it known that I, Gaone FRIEDRICH RU- DOLF BLOCHMANN, a subject of theGerman u Emperor-,and a resident of Kiel, Germany,

. .fective for offensive work.

1t is impraeticable to build up the entire outer skin of a ship withheavy armor-plate, as has partly and with excellent results been doneabove water, to shield it against the vigorous attack or' heavyordnance, because the -Y thickness of the armor required to resist theforce of large quantities of explosive material discharged against thesides or bottom of the vessel must necessaril y increase the weight ofthe vessel beyond the limit of practicability.

My pyrodynainic investigations, partly given to the public in a".lreatise upon Explosives Under Water and published in theille/vlaai'miden/tait, 1898, book 2, page 197 were the first to considersystematically the peculiar characteristics ot' an nnder-water explosionand definitely to determine the consequent efi'ect upon its immediatesurroundings. Among other things there have been deduced from theseinvestigations that the powerful effect of an under-water explosiondiminishes very rapidly from points somewhat removed from the center'ofetfort, which is'the surface of the explosive. 1f, therefore, means beemployed to prevent the explosive effort from coming into direct Contactwith the armored skinwthat is to say, means by which thearmored skin rr,y be maintained at a certain distance from the exp1osive then thevessel may be clad witha niedium thickness of armor throughout itsbottom and sides without detracting seriously from its eectiveness atother points.

This invention is based upon these premises;

. grec a foundation and it consists in giving to the ship several (atleast two) complete walls or bottoms un.- der water, of which, however,not the outer skin, but perhaps one of the inner skins, may be,armor-clad.

This specification is an exact description of several forms of myinvention, while the claims define the actual scope1 thereof.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in both the views.

Figure 1 isa cross-section showing my improved structure as applied to ainpdern bat-l tle-ship, and Fig. 2 is aeross-seet'ioifsliowifig theimprovements applied to a modern cruiser.

The water-tight compartments a, formed by the several bottoms Z1, o, andd, supported and separated by the ribs and longitudinal girders e of theframe, may be iilled with air, liquids, and with such solid matter asbits of cork or corn-pith, or a combination of any of these, Yfor thepurpose of weakening the effect of the exterior explosions upon the realprotective armor lying'inside of and behind them. That the properinfluence of the intermediate bottoms L, c, and (Z upon the exteriorexplosive efort may become especially effective the opposite girders andribs of the several separate floors should be suitably overlapped.Moreover,- in order to atlord a strong connec- 'tion for the outboardside armor which is intended to resist the'attaek ot' heavy artillery ahorizontal bulkhead f may besuitably constructed at a certain heightfrom the side of the ship, and thus developed into armor.- The bulkheadmay at the same time become asolid support for the outboard armor y,inasmuch as by stiiening it up by brackets I it may be drawn down andout, so as to form to a deupon which `the outboard armor may rest. Inthis manner the whole vertical side armor may be worked outside, wherebya more stable andunbroken framing Without bends will become possible.The possible disadvantages of any increased friction may be avoided ifthe under side edge be brought up to and attached t6 thel runningnlines. The side armor being applied in this manner, and especially if itb Vdesired to lessen To@ the danger from fire andsplinters, the woodensupport may be the more readily eliminated than in thepresent method ofattaching it in a niche artiiicially constructed in the side of theship. Attention must also be especially directed tothe fact that aprotective armor builtuip according to the above con- .ditions mustalsobecome a very advantageous protection against other submarinedangers, such as sunken reefs., derelicts, &c. Again, a ship constructedaccording to my invention-will be much easier to keep Watertight, andthe danger from leaking by the working of the ship in a Seaway, thepiercing of the shell by a projectile, or other similar accidents isreduced to a minimum.

The transition of the inner armor Z of the bottom tothe sides of theship instead of being curved, as shown in the drawings, may also beangular, wherein the connection would be effected by a heavyarmor-bracket, which. would permit of an easier and cheaper productionof' the armor.

The protective'deck t is so constructed that it restsupon the heavybeams and is worked down to the upper edgeof the triple.

bott-cmd, thus providing a better double pro-- tective behind thevertical side armor than is 'f at present the custom.

Various changes in the form, proportions, and minor details of myinvention may berelsorted to at will without departing from thespirit/and scope thereof. Hence l considermynasse eects of submarineexplosions or other vio= lent'shocks. said'Walls being turned upwardly'around the sides of 'the ship-bottom, and a horizontal bulkheadconnecting said wallsto- Y getber at their upper sides- 2. A marinevessel, having a spaced bottoms forming separate compartments, andlongitudinal girders and ribs in said compartments, the girders of theupper compartments being intermediate of the girders of the lowercompartments.

3. A Vmarine vessel, having a plurality of l spaced bottom walls formingsuperimposed compartments, horizontal bulkheads extending out Jfrom theinner bottom Wall, and vertical outboard armor .mounted on the' outerportions of said bulkheads and supported thereby.

4. A marine vessel provided with a plurality of spaced bottom Wallsforming superimposed compartments, saidwalls being Iturned upwardlyaround the ship-bottom, a horizontal bulkhead connecting said wallstogether at their vupper sides, and a protective deck supported aroundits edges upon the in'- ner side of said bulkhead.

plurality of.

5. A marine vessel provided witha plurality of spacedbottom wallsforming superimposed compartments, said walls .being turned upwardlyaround the ship-bottom,- a hori-- zontal bulkhead connecting said wallstogether at, their upper sides and projecting outwardly beyond the outerWall to form a foundation jfor the outboard armor.

ln testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specication in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses. A

GL F. RUDOLF BLOCHMANN.

Witnesses:

Gr. NAUDITZ, F. HAASE.

